“Rome Wasn't Built in a Day” by Jen Norton
Before traveling to Rome, I had always imagined the crumbling ancient ruins of the Coliseum and Roman Forum being somewhere outside the modern city, carefully protected from vandals and pollution. Far from it… the icons of past civilizations were not removed from current life, but right smack in the middle of it! 3000-year-old structures surrounded by streets teaming with traffic, and tons of fashionable, wildly-driving Romans on Vespas. In Rome, you can see the timeline of Western Civilization before your eyes. My intent was to play up the rhythms in the patterns and combine shapes to emphasize how life is connected both in the layers of past-to-present, and within current time. The Roman numeral for 2007 (MMVII) floats through the atmosphere, marking the year I painted this…my point in time.
